Federal

Heat Prompts School Closures

By Katie Ash — August 28, 2007 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Less than a month into the school year, an extreme heat wave putting temperatures as high as 102 degrees in the South and Midwest United States has prompted a rash of school closings.

The 16,000-student Dayton school district in Ohio closed for two full days last week, bringing the total number of heat-related closings this school year to six. Temperatures soared to 95 degrees when the district decided to close its doors.

The district has five “calamity” days built into each calendar year, and is responsible for making up any instructional time lost beyond that, said Jill Moberly, a public information officer for the district.

“Before the year begins, our board of education must designate makeup days, and they have identified those dates,” she said. Any further time lost will be tacked onto the end of the school year, which is currently scheduled to end on June 5.

The district is in the middle of a rebuilding plan that will equip all the classrooms with air conditioning by 2010, thereby avoiding heat-related problems in the future.

Meanwhile, the 37,000-student Indianapolis public school district is experiencing similar problems. Only 39 of the district’s 76 schools are equipped with air conditioning, which forced district officials to close schools early two days last week when temperatures reached 94 degrees.

Of the 11 school districts in the state, Indianapolis is the only district that does not have air conditioning in all of its schools.

“Our goal and hope is that people will understand that when we talk about providing air conditioning [in our schools], it’s not a frill,” said Mary Louise Bewley, the director of school and community relations for the district.

Normally, schools are cooled by fans, but it has been a particularly hot summer for Indiana, Ms. Bewley explained.

Because schools were open for half the day, though, the district will not be required to make up for lost instructional time later in the year.

‘Extremely Unusual’

Even with air conditioning, some districts have decided that temperatures are simply too high to hold classes safely.

The 74,000-student Metropolitan Nashville public school district was operating on a half-day schedule for three days last week due to temperatures as high as 105 degrees.

“It is an extremely unusual situation for us,” said Woody McMillin, a spokesman for the district. “For us to have these temperatures for as long as we’ve had them without rain is very rare.”

Even with the air conditioning running, temperatures inside the buildings have climbed to uncomfortable heights. But school officials were most concerned about the level of heat students and faculty endured commuting to and from school.

“We do not have air-conditioned buses,” Mr. McMillin said. “And we were also concerned about the children walking to school.”

The Tennessee state department of education agreed to lump two of the half-days into one full day that the district will need to make up by the end of the year.

“We have five snow days built in, so if we don’t use all of them, we can turn one into a heat day,” Mr. McMillin said. “Or we could use a professional development day, when children wouldn’t usually come to school.”

Athletic Activities Continue

All three school districts have continued to hold athletic practices and games.

“Our athletic directors are trained with working with kids in hot weather,” said Ms. Bewley.

Each state sets its own regulations for conducting athletic activities in extreme heat. Generally, athletic directors are required to give students more breaks and keep them well hydrated. Some districts have pushed practices back until later in the day, or scheduled them for early in the morning, to avoid the heat.

“We’ve eliminated daytime practices, moved them to the evening, and implemented district policy on heat-related play,” Mr. McMillin of the Metropolitan Nashville schools said.

Also, in his district, extra timeouts are built into the games so the athletes can rest more frequently, Mr. McMillin said.

To avoid heat-related school closings at the beginning of the year, some parents have suggested that schools start later in the year, but so far school officials are not looking at any calendar changes.

“We just can’t react to the weather anomalies,” Mr. McMillin said. “You have to look at the long-term temperatures and averages and do the best job you can.”

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal Biden Admin. Warns Schools to Protect Students From Antisemitism, Islamophobia
The U.S. Department of Education released a "Dear Colleague" letter reminding schools of their obligation to address discrimination.
3 min read
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Department of Education on Sept. 20, 2023 in Washington.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview in his office at the U.S. Department of Education on Sept. 20, 2023 in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Federal What Educators Should Know About Mike Johnson, New Speaker of the House
Johnson has supported restructuring federal education funding, as well as socially conservative policies that have become GOP priorities.
4 min read
House Speaker-elect Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., addresses members of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on Oct. 25, 2023. Republicans eagerly elected Johnson as House speaker on Wednesday, elevating a deeply conservative but lesser-known leader to the seat of U.S. power and ending for now the political chaos in their majority.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., addresses members of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on Oct. 25, 2023. Johnson has a supported a number of conservative Republican education priorities in his time in Congress.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Federal America's Children Don't Have a Federal Right to Education. Will That Ever Change?
An education scholar is launching a new research and advocacy institute to make the case for a federal right to education.
6 min read
Kimberly Robinson speaks at the kickoff event for the new Education Rights Institute at the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville, Va., on Oct. 16, 2023.
Kimberly Robinson speaks at the kickoff event for the new Education Rights Institute at the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville, Va., on Oct. 16, 2023.
Julia Davis, University of Virginia School of Law
Federal Q&A Miguel Cardona: There's No 'Magic Strategy' to Help Students Get Back on Track
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said he's focused on supporting schools on work they're already doing to help students achieve.
8 min read
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Department of Education on Sept. 20, 2023 in Washington.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Department of Education on Sept. 20, 2023, in Washington. In an interview with Education Week, Cardona said "there hasn’t been another president in our lifetime that has spoken so much on providing dollars for education but also having education be central to the growth of this country."
Mark Schiefelbein/AP